December 2010

12 December 2010

Make your own spray starch??? I didn't know this could be done (and really work well) until I unknowingly tried some that Tara made. She had some in her best press container at Amanda Jean's quilt retreat and it smelled good and worked great, so I thought I was using best press. Not.

If you'd like to try it for yourself, here's Tara's recipe. I honestly don't know that I'll ever buy spray starch again!

And now for the winner of the "Little Girls, Big Style" book giveaway!

Dum da.dum!

#7! Michelle, who said, ""The clothing is fabulous! Mary has done an amazing job. Thanks for the giveaway!"

Michelle, I am so excited you won! And what a coincidence, since I just finished your dresden block for Bee Beautiful yesterday!

Alrighty! To the rest of you who didn't win, I hope you all are having a great December! I'm getting caught up on some bee blocks so my machine can go in for repair (too many broken needles lately!), and getting ready for Christmas so I will be back around January 1st.

Although....., I may pop in and surprise you all (and me!) before then?? Maybe?? I'll have to see how that all works out. Either way, until then, I wish you love, joy, and the Peace that transcends all things!

09 December 2010

Firstly, to introduce you to Mary. Mary and I met at Quilt Market this year through a mutual friend in Sheree. And although we've only met recently, I can tell Mary is a kind, no-nonsense kind of gal. And exactly my kind of person.

So when she and I talked about me taking part in her blog tour for her new book, "Little Girls, Big Style", well, let me just say, I was completely honored and humbled.

And now, after getting a preview of the book, I'm even more honored and humbled. "Little Girls, Big Style" is jam packed with inspiration, tips, how-to's and the sweetest girl clothing you can imagine!

And so that you can get to know Mary a bit, here are a few Q&A's about her!

1. When did you start sewing and at what point did you realize it was a passion of yours?

My mom sewed so often when I was a child and I know that made me want to learn how to sew. I remember checking out a book from the library when I was about 8 years old and raiding her sewing supplies to hand sew probably the world’s ugliest pillow. LOL! I sewed off and on for years but didn’t really fall in love with it until my daughter was born in 2004. I really missed my mom, who had died three years earlier, and sewing for my daughter seemed like a way to connect two people I loved dearly but could never meet.

2. What other creative outlets do you have besides sewing?

There’s a reason my blog is called “Confessions of a Craft Addict.” I think I’ll probably try anything once. Outside of sewing, I think my biggest passions are photography and writing.

3. Where do you find your inspiration?I have sketchbooks and notebooks filled with ideas. This book sort of evolved from a desire to stretch myself to change up the patterns I had — which I knew fit my daughter — and see how I could make them look like something different. Even though the book is out, I’m still devising ways to change up those same patterns! I have some really cool hacks of the peasant top/dress in mind and hope to share them on my blog so folks can get even more out of the book.

Thank-you so much, Mary, for taking the time to give us a glimpse into your life. And I, for one, would love to see pics of your "world's ugliest pillow"! I'm betting a better word for it would be, "charming"!

Ok, so for those of you who have made it this far, you guessed it, Stash books is offering up a copy of "Little Girls, Big Style" to you, the readers of sewtakeahike! All you have to do is leave one comment and you'll be entered in the drawing. I'll leave the comments open until this Sunday, Dec 12th.

And make sure to check out the other stops of the blog tour for other chances to win!

01 December 2010

Honestly, I thought one or two Footstool Pincushion KITS would sell. Here we are, two days later, and there's only one left. I thought I'd have a few to choose from for the winner of the giveaway and now it looks like I'll need to go get more supplies and make one special for the winner (and possibly more too, for the shop!)

Thank-you all for always being so encouraging and uplifting! You guys really do rock!

Ok, so do you all remember my two month fabric fast? Well, it ended on November 1st. I'm happy to say I only had one incident of weakness during that time! And then, when it was over, I didn't really have a desire to purchase any new fabric for a couple of weeks. Praise God!!!

I'm sure you all can tell that I'm really drawn to dots. Especially BIG dots! And until Ayumi and I started the patchwork bee, Ringo Pie, can you believe I didn't have a single small dot in my fabric stash? And that just won't do when you're doing patchwork.

And then these? Well, I just couldn't resist!! They're so cute and fun and perfect for fussy cutting, or not!!

So once again, thank-you all from the bottom of my heart! And if you haven't yet, make sure you enter the Triple giveaway here! You have until tomorrow afternoon!